The doctor came from meeting with the pathologist with an update. They now think that Alan has Infantile Fibrosarcoma, an even rarer form of cancer (from 1982-1998 there were only 11 cases in infants).
The good news is that this tumour is usually treated with surgical resection, and it seems like there is little risk of the cancer spreading through the body or recurring after treatment. This is an even rarer form of tumour than the rhabdomyosarcoma though, so we are having trouble finding information. The anecdotal information we have found seems to be very encouraging.
In Alan's case, the doctor would still like to shrink the tumour with chemotherapy before surgery, depending how much of Alan's hip bone is left. If this tumour is confirmed though, Alan will not have to have radiation therapy.
The pathologist at TCH has seen the slides from Tuesday's needle biopsy, and is waiting to see the slides from yesterday's larger biopsy (why didn't they FedEx it?? we get a discount!!) and wants to consult with his colleagues at MD Anderson. The pathologists are also doing a genetic study on the tumour to confirm the identification. The pathologist at our hospital is on call this weekend, so if there any developments soon we should hear about them. But mostly likely we will not hear anything until Monday.
Chemotherapy for this tumour would be fairly generic, so depending on Alan's condition and how much of the hip bone is left, the doctor may consider starting treatments tomorrow. We'll know more when he assesses Alan's condition again.
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